Dr. Kevin Croat
Dr. Croat received his PhD in Physics from Washington University in 2001. In the interdisciplinary spirit of the Laboratory for Space Sciences group, his background is in materials physics.  His thesis research was done on solidification of metal alloys from the undercooled state, focusing on nanocrystallization in various metallic glasses and also containerless solidification of quasicrystal-forming alloys. He joined the group in 2001 as a post-doctoral researcher.
Research Interests Dr. Croat's current research focuses on the study of the internal structure and chemistry of pre-solar grains that condensed in gaseous outflows from various stars. Many of the pre-solar grains discovered using ion probe techniques can be characterized on a finer scale using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Using TEM, the microstructure and the phases present in pre-solar grains can be determined, as well as the chemical composition on a sub-micron scale. Recent investigations have been done on onion-like graphite structures, which are believed to have originated in supernovae due to their isotopic signatures. These graphite structures contain many internal crystals (mainly titanium carbides) which give further information about the conditions (pressure, temperature, chemical composition, etc.) in the gas from which the grains formed. Kevin's research page: Presolar Grains: a complementary approach to studying supernovae List of Publications.
Contact	Kevin Croat Laboratory for Space Sciences Physics Department, CB 1105 Washington University 1 Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA	Phone: (314) 935-6225 Fax: (314) 935-4083 Email: tkc@wuphys.wustl.edu
Back to the People Page	Home Page of the Laboratory for Space Sciences